Sultanate of Oman
The Outcome of the Partnership
between
Staffordshire University - UK and
Gulf College - Oman
2003 – 2013
Dr. Issa Al Bulushi
Chairman and CEO
Gulf College, Oman
Prof. Taki Al Abduwani
Dean
Gulf College, Oman
November - 2013
The Speaker
1.
Prof. Taki has been the Dean of Gulf College since 2004.
2.
He is the external reviewer of Oman Academic Accreditation
Authority, Reviewer in The Research Council, Oman, he is
also the Chair of the Executive Committee of the Oman
Quality Network for Higher Education.
3.
PhD Degree in Education from University of Reading, UK. His
thesis was on assessing the role of the soft component of
human capital theory and explains the differences in soft skill
endowment in Oman.
4.
He was awarded the Honorary Professorship by the
International University of Vienna during the Oxford Summit
of Leaders which was held during March 2010.
1. About Oman
Today's Presentation
will cover
2. History of Gulf College
3. Quality Monitoring by internal and External bodies
4. Affiliation arrangements with Staffordshire University
5. The outcome of the partnership (9 areas), focus
areas for today’s presentation will be
•
Staff research and consultancy
•
Industry and community engagement
6. Gulf College new campus
7. Question and answer session
About Oman
1. Area: 309,500 Square
Kilometre
2. Population: 3.8 Million
2013, of this,
• 2.2mn Omanis, and
• 1.6mn expatriates
3. Capital: Muscat
4. Official language: Arabic
language (English
language spoken widely).
5. Time: Four hours ahead
of GMT.
6. Currency: RO.1 = US$2.6
(0.385 Baiza = US$ 1)
7. Weather: Hot and Humid
in summer and moderate in
winter
8. Population Growth
Average: 6.4%
9. Life Expectancy: 72 Years
Coastline - 1700 kms long
Heritage,
castles,
valleys,
Green
mountains
Sea turtles
Deserts
Traditional
and
Modern
buildings
And souqs
Good
hotels and
tourist
attractions
About Oman
History of Gulf College
2014 New Campus (8000 student capacity)
Approval from Ministry of Higher Education Oman to
2003 upgrade the status to a Higher Education College,
offering 10 different undergraduate programmes inaddition to the two postgraduate programmes which
were already in place.
1997
Managing the first privatised College in GCC
(Kingdom of Bahrain)
1996 The first MBA programme offered in Oman
through a private institution
1990 Establishment of the set-up offering vocational and
professional qualifications.
The partnership has started since then.
Quality Monitoring by internal and External bodies
ADRI
Approach
Model
1.
2. Deployment
3. Results
4.
Improvements
Gulf College
Source: OAAA
Internal Review of the System (results in a Quality Audit Portfolio)
External Review of the System (results in a Quality Audit Report)
Quality Reviews
Internal
Internal Review
Semester review - Working Groups - College Board
IPA Semester visit reports for each Faculty
University
Semester Reports by the External Examiners
Self Evaluation every 5 years by Staffordshire University
MOHE
OAAA
Annual Review by Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE)
Quality Audit by Oman Academic Accreditation Authority (OAAA)
- every 4 years
Institutional Standards Assessment by Oman Academic Accreditation
Authority - every 4 years
Programs Standards Assessment by Oman Academic Accreditation
Authority - every 4 years
Affiliation arrangements with
Staffordshire University
Relationship
Quality Assured
International
Foundation
Programme
SU examiners visit
Gulf College certificate
Franchise
Honours
Degree
Programme
Visits from examiners from
other UK Universities
SU certificate
In Progress
Masters
Degree
Programme
The Awards

Business Awards
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
BA(Hons) Accounting
BA(Hons) Business Economics
BA(Hons) Business Management
BA(Hons) Finance
BA(Hons) Marketing Management
BA(Hons) Travel and Tourism Management

Computing Awards
7.
8.
9.
10.
BSc(Hons) Computer Science
BSc(Hons) Computing Science
BSc(Hons) Information Systems
BSc(Hons) Mobile Computing
Outcome
The Quality
Quality is assured by Staffordshire University in accordance
with UK Higher Education requirements
1.
Access to staff, IT resources, books, e-library
2.
Same curriculum, assessments (localised)
3.
Same language, same examination process
4.
Same rules for awarding qualifications
5.
Access to personal help
Also checked by the Ministry of Higher Education,
Oman and the Oman Academic Accreditation
Authority.
Credit
Framework
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Written Examination
Practical Test
Individual Assignment
Group Assignment
Case Study
Project
Essay
Individual Presentation
Group Presentation
Business Plan
Portfolio
Journal
Viva-Voce
Level 4
120 credits
Level 5
120 credits
Level 6
120 credits
Credit
Transfer
OMAN
Level 4
120 credits
OMAN
Level 5
120 credits
UK
Level 6
120 credits
Credit
Transfer
OMAN
Other
Country
UK
Level 4
120 credits
Level 5
120 credits
Level 6
120 credits
Credit
Transfer
OMAN
Level 4
120 credits
OMAN
Level 5
120 credits
Other UK
University
Level 6
120 credits
Source : OAAA Audit Report – www.oaaa.gov.om
The Outcome (9 Areas)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Governance and management
Student learning by coursework programs
Student learning by research programs
Staff research and consultancy
Industry and community engagement
Academic support services
Students and student support services
Staff and staff support services
General support services and facilities
Details of the other seven areas can be
downloaded from the report
Source : OAAA Audit Report – www.oaaa.gov.om
Staff research and
consultancy
• The GC research strategy revolves around the
cultivation of new knowledge and its dissemination
and development of research capability of staff
and students.
• The vision for GC is to become a leading research
centre in the Sultanate of Oman through the
following objectives:
1. To establish research grounds and to enhance
the students' analytical skills and provide
spin-off initiative ideas to conduct research on
incentive basis.
Source : OAAA Audit Report – www.oaaa.gov.om
Staff research and
consultancy
2. To provide opportunities for the entrepreneurs through
cultivation of knowledge and creating links between
the higher education providers and the industries.
3. To improve the research capability of the faculty and
the students of the college to match international
standards
4. To achieve the percentage set for each level of the
academic jobs as per the college academic ranking
policy. This is summarised below:
1. Professor
5%
2. Reader
10%
3. Principal Lecturer
15%
4. Lecturer
30%
5. Assistant Lecturer
40%
Source : OAAA Audit Report – www.oaaa.gov.om
Staff research and
consultancy
5. To create an environment that inspires and enables
innovative research and scholarship.
6. To disseminate research findings effectively through
publications, faculty exchanges, workshops,
seminars and conferences locally and internationally.
7. To ensure that the outputs of research conducted at
the college benefits the society and the economy
through effective knowledge transfer and appropriate
management of intellectual property
8. To develop viable portfolios of activities from
research like project consultancy and project
management.
Source : OAAA Audit Report – www.oaaa.gov.om
Staff research and
consultancy
Focus Areas
Active participation by staff and students in research
activities such as workshops and seminars; conduct of
surveys and undertaking research projects and
publications in refereed journals.
1. Conduct regular Research workshops (research
methodology, research proposals and research
publications) to help the researcher to analyse local
problems in a scientific way and contribute to creative
thinking and innovativeness.
2. Joint publications by faculty, students and the
industry.
3. Enhancement of college’s research and enterprise
activities.
4. Developing soft skills of the students and their
employability.
Source : OAAA Audit Report – www.oaaa.gov.om
Staff research and
consultancy
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Implementation
Establishment of the Centre for Research,
Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CRIE)
Appointment of the Deputy Dean for Academic
and Research
Appointment of three Research Coordinators (one
for each faculty)
Annual implementation plan based on the
approved research strategy
Awareness campaigns to enlighten the local
community of the research activities in the college.
Strengthen the employment opportunities of the
students focusing on employability and soft skills
Source : OAAA Audit Report – www.oaaa.gov.om
Industry and Community
Engagement
Each faculty produces annual activity calendar
to enhance relationship with Industry,
Community, Employers, Professions, Alumni and
Other Education Providers, this include activities
such as:1. Participation in local and international
events focused on humanitarian, health and
environment aspects
Source : OAAA Audit Report – www.oaaa.gov.om
Industry and Community
Engagement
2. Support various Government programmes
like Blood Donation, H1N1 Campaign, beach
cleaning programme and others which are
beneficial for the people of Oman and its
community.
3. Organise and sponsor various sports, craft and
hobbies
4. Offer free training and seminars on Career
Development for its students and to the
general public
Source : OAAA Audit Report – www.oaaa.gov.om
Industry and Community
Engagement
5. Facilitates the processing of
applications of its graduates to
industries and companies both for
training and employment.
6. Employer survey to assess
employers’ needs.
Source : OAAA Audit Report – www.oaaa.gov.om
External Audit Report
Outcomes
1.
Prior to the audit visit, the panel invited
submissions from the public about the
quality of GC’s activities.
2.
Audit visit took place over 10-13 April 2011
3.
During the audit the panel spoke with over
90 people including representatives of the
governing authorities, staff, students, and
external stakeholders
Source : OAAA Audit Report – www.oaaa.gov.om
Audit Panel Members
1. Prof. Debbie Clayton (Panel Chairperson)
Clayton International Education Consulting Service
Brisbane, Australia
2. Dr. Ahmed Al Bulushi
Caledonian College of Engineering, Muscat, Oman
3. Dr. Ammar Al Ojaili
Salalah College of Technology, Salalah, Oman
4. Dr. Elizabeth Stanley
Higher Education Consultant, Colorado, USA
5. Prof. Gus Pennington
Independent Consultant, UK
6. Tess Goodliffe (Executive Officer)
Oman Academic Accreditation Authority
Audit Outcome
1. Commendations – 4
2. Affirmations – 10
3. Recommendations – 24
For details you can visit :
http://www.oac.gov.om/Review/GC%20Audit%20Report%20final.pdf.
Source : OAAA Audit Report – www.oaaa.gov.om
Commendations
1.
2.
3.
4.
Developing an affiliation agreement
with SU which underpins Quality
Assurance of the UG programmes offered
Robust moderation of assessment to
ensure consistency of standards in UG
programmes
Flexibility in timetabling, opening hours,
payment schedules & responsiveness to
students
Developing and implementing an
effective staff induction programme
10 affirmations & 24 recommendations can be
accessed from the audit report –
www.oaaa.gov.om
Gulf College
New
Campus
1. Land : 24000 square metres
2. 4 floors
3. Building area : 72000 square
metres
4. 8000 students capacity
References
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
www.gulfcollege.edu.om
www.omantourism.gov.om
http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/o
man.htm
www.oaaa.gov.om
http://www.oac.gov.om/Review/GC%20A
udit%20Report%20final.pdf
Question and Answer
Session
1. Any further clarification needed from today’s
presentation
2. How can we work together to overcome the
future challenges
3. How can we work together towards
• sharing the good practices
• benchmarking
• peer observations (different partners of SU)
• cultural activities and student exchange
• joint research
Thanks
Prof. Taki Al Abduwani
taki1966@omantel.net.om
www.gulfcollege.edu.om